Well this is new... People taking their pet's medicines to get high

Mods, please move to a more appropriate forum if neeeded..

I just saw this article about how people who are hooked on opiods and other drugs are so desparate to get a "fix" that they take their pet's medicines Many medicines for pets, especially pain ones, are just the Human ones used off label and in a much much smaller dose. I'm not sure if the issue is mainly with pills or if other forms of medicines are included (liquids, injectables, etc). Vets should be made aware of this and be on the look out for clients who refill prescriptions too frequently or insist that their sick pet is not getting better and needs more medicine.

If you live with other people or have visitors to your home, it would be best to keep your pet's medicines locked up just the same as you would with your own medicines. You can't trust people these days anymore  I've heard of people going to real estate open houses just to look in the medicine cabinet and closets for any prescription medicine to take.

It's a real problem in Orlando.  Buprenorphine is chemically the same thing as Suboxone which is used to either get high or alleviate withdrawal symptoms in opiate addicts.

One of my vets said that there was a spree of sorts of people going to different clinics with injured animals, almost all of which had been injured at the hands of their "owners."  There are incidents of people catching feral/stray cats and breaking a bone and then taking them to low cost vets attempting to get narcotics.

It's just unimaginable to me.

Chronic pain is a terrible thing, and getting proper pain meds for yourself is difficult. And others use drugs as a coping mechanism against mental/emotional pain. I won't say anything against people who use drugs. They need treatment (real treatment, not locking them up long enough to go through withdrawal without addressing the underlying reason), not condemnation. And, I gotta say, if one of my pets had a prescription for a drug I needed, and I ran out but the pet hadn't, I'd use theirs (if I could do it without compromising their treatment). But of course, if people are really injuring animals on purpose, that's just evil .